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Principality growth continues as it posts strong half-year results

Principality Building Society has announced excellent half-year results driven by an increase in net residential mortgage lending of more than £357m, while total assets have risen to £9bn for the first time in the Society’s history.

Steve Hughes, Chief Executive of Principality Building Society, said: “It’s been a great start to the year for the Society, with a really strong lending performance. Our capital and liquidity remains strong and our low arrears levels reflect the prudent nature of our balance sheet. The building society has delivered a profit of £31.8m with all of our businesses making a meaningful contribution, providing resilience and security for our Members.

“I have been in post as Chief Executive since March and during that time I have visited every one of our 71 branches and agencies. I have witnessed the importance of the personal service we provide. I have had great feedback from our Members on how they value our excellent personal service and I can see the important role we play in our local communities.

“We are a mutual organisation, owned by our Members and we will continue to run the business for the long-term benefit of our Members. To achieve this we will implement our strategy with appropriate prudency, focus and rigour. Our strategy is ambitious with a clear focus on transforming our core mortgage and savings business. Growing the residential mortgage business is important and benefits our Members through building a sustainable business and providing the scale to allow us to invest for the future.”

Commenting on the work that Principality has been doing to support its local communities around Wales and the borders, Steve said: “Supporting our local communities and helping them prosper is what we do as a mutual building society. Our colleagues have yet again put in considerable effort to raise £63,000 for our three chosen charity partners Llamau, School of Hard Knocks and Cancer Research Wales.

“They have also volunteered more than 450 hours to help us achieve our Corporate Social Responsibility objectives of helping people to stay in a home for longer, health & wellbeing and financial education. The Society has also invested £60,000 to support 95 community groups and school projects across Wales.”

Looking to the second half of the year Steve said: “Our outlook for the second half of the year looks robust. However, headline profitability will fall in the coming years as we consciously invest in the business to improve further the propositions and service we provide for Members and customers. This will involve significant investment in technology, processes, and our colleagues and in developing our branch network to meet the changing demands of our Members. Political and economic uncertainty has undoubtedly affected the financial landscape but the Principality balance sheet is strong and is well positioned to deal with any impacts this might have. We will continue to provide a stand out experience for our Members and customers whilst investing in our business for the long term.”